Many Mexicans see oil as last frontier against U.S. invasion

By Julie Watson
ASSOCIATED PRESS

1:54 p.m. April 24, 2008

MEXICO CITY – Even with oil prices at record highs, Mexico's state-run oil company is managing to lose money.

But a presidential plan to fix Petroleos Mexicanos by inviting foreign help is stirring deep-seated emotions over sovereignty – and causing a paralysis that could doom America's third-largest oil supplier.

Leftist legislators have padlocked the doors of Congress, camping out in the chambers for two weeks in protest. Opponents on the right have attacked them in a national TV ad, invoking images of Adolf Hitler.
Everyone in Mexico – from top leaders to housewives – seems to be swept up in the fervor.

While President Felipe Calderón's administration calls the congressional lockdown an international embarrassment, Fernanda de Jesus Arriola gives up her afternoon soaps and takes her young children to march in Mexico City.

“Calderón is a right-winger who is going to take away our way of life,â€